AGL 029: Some Things Are More Important Than Work

I’ve been noticeably absent from the podcast for the past couple of months, so where have I been? I planned to take 2-3 weeks off from the podcast and take my family on a much needed vacation to Turks and Caicos. On our 3rd day of the trip I got the call that no son wants to get. My dad has cancer. At first the doctors were optimistic said they thought it was treatable so they scheduled scans and started chemo.

I made it a point to spend as much time visiting him as I could. I decided to put the podcast on hold, and spend that time with my dad. I traveled to visit and spend time with him every week and called every day. I was blessed to be able to ask him the things I needed/wanted to ask him. He told me about Vietnam, and got to say all the things he felt he needed to say to me.

My friends and family prayed for his healing, and we got it. Not necessarily in the way that I was hoping, but I know the cancer is no more, and I know he’s happier and better than he was the last couple of months of his life. My father went to heaven.

I was able to talk to him and say my goodbye on one of his last fully coherent days. My dad told me he was proud of me, and I said the same back to him. He said he loved me and for me to take care of my mom and sister. It was sad, but then when the doctor came in and asked him about life support, he said heck no. I’m ready to see Jesus and get to heaven. My work on Earth is done. Dad passed a few days later.

This was a tough time for all of us, but we’re at peace and we know that he’s better off and that we’ll be okay.

Lessons Learned

I learned, in real life, what I’ve been talking about all along. Family trumps work 100% of the time. We can always find another job, delay our work, but our time on Earth is short, and family matters the most. Leaving a legacy is more than just doing good work, or having a good job. Its about making life better for the generations that come after you. Billy Graham said it the best when he said,

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”

The 2 things I want you to get out of this episode, is that I’m back and hopefully will be sharing on a more regular basis now, and that life is more than just great work. Leadership is more than just leading at work, its about leading at home, with your friends and family, and leaving a legacy.

Focus more on leaving a great legacy, rather than building a great resume.

Build a Legacy

So how do you build a legacy? Its about impacting people, not projects. “Begin by with the end in mind.” – Steven Covey. Imagine your funeral. Who will come? Does it matter if they come? Who will be glad they met you? Who’s life have you directly impacted? I’m not 100% sure how to build a great legacy, but I can tell you what I’m doing. First, thinking about the people that matter most to me, and making sure that I’m investing into them.

I’m paying attention to where my “FATE (Focus, Assets, Time, & Energy)” is going. I find myself asking, is this the best use of my time more often than I did before. The next thing I’m looking into is my scope of impact. How can I grow those in my network, my reach, the people I can impact? What does that look like? What do I have to give up to build a legacy? What legacy do I want to leave? And lastly, how can live my legacy right now. In order to leave a legacy, you have to live it. Think about how you want to be remembered, and start living that way today. I want to hear what your legacy is. Leave me a message on twitter @johnrouda with what you want your legacy to be.

I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!

I’ve been noticeably absent from the podcast for the past couple of months, so where have I been? I planned to take 2-3 weeks off from the podcast and take my family on a much needed vacation to Turks and Caicos. On our 3rd day of the trip I got the call that no son wants to get. My dad has cancer. At first the doctors were optimistic said they thought it was treatable so they scheduled scans and started chemo. I made it a point to spend as much time visiting him as I could. I decided to put the podcast […]

Whenever I talk about leadership at an event, I usually get a several people that either email me or talk to me afterwards to tell me how great that it all sounds, but that they can’t do those things. For some reason, something won’t let them. It’s usually either fear or a lack of confidence, which I address in previous episodes: But sometimes its this thought or belief that we have to be perfect in order to be a leader. I heard a really smart man one time say that: Leadership is about Progress, not Perfection – Steven Furtick That […]

We all have feelings of inadequacy. Many times I have this fear, that someone is going to show up at my door and shut it all down. They will tell me that I’m not qualified to write about leadership, or to host a podcast, or to build websites or mobile apps, or to teach. And it will all be over. Everyday, at some point in that day, I suffer from feelings of being unqualified to do the work that I know I’m meant to do. Sometimes I let mistakes that I make, thoughts that I have, and my feelings get […]

Most people in Technology struggle with communication… better yet, most people in business struggle with communication. I’m no exception to that, but I’m working on it. Here are some of the things that I’ve learned and implemented to help me with communication. One of the reasons some of us are bad at communication is due to fear. We’re afraid to let people that we don’t know, what we don’t know. We’re afraid that they will think less of us or something… But really, if we only new how little they already think of us, then we wouldn’t care what they […]

In this episode I interview Anthony Roldan from HubSpot about the companies culture code. I was pretty much blown away with the autonomy and freedom that HubSpot offer’s their employees. Their growth is amazing and there is no doubt that they are a leader in the marketing software industry. I’ve followed their blog for a while and used lots of their free tips and tools for marketers in the past, but this was my first time meeting and talking to one of their employees. Some of my key take aways: I was shocked and intrigued by their “no QA” on […]

You can’t grow if you don’t stretch If you’re looking for advice on yoga, flexibility or getting shape, then you’re in the wrong place. This is going to be a short episode about getting better. Ever had a rubber band, and stretched? If you stretch it too far to fast, it snaps. We’re the same way. We need to stretch ourselves in small steady ways. If you stretch a rubber band a little bit, and hold it for a long time, it’ll loose some of that tension that makes it spring back. It becomes easier to stretch and will expand […]